PictoVista acknowledges that though we try to report accurately, we cannot verify the absolute facts of everything posted. Postings may contain fact, speculation or rumor. We find images from the Web that are believed to belong in the public domain. If any stories or images that appear on the site are in violation of copyright law, please post a comment under the post and we will remove the offending information as soon as possible.

The Guardian has rounded up this year’s top news in pictures but instead of using regular photos they used pictures of Legos that reenacted some of major news stories of the past 12 months. From the royal wedding to the death of Osama bin Laden, the English summer riots and the fall of Gaddafi, here is what grabbed news headline during the past year.

March 2011 - troubled star Charlie Sheen was fired from American sitcom Two and a Half Men after he rejected requests by its broadcast network to enter rehabilitation

June 2011 - Barack Obama, appears with Angela Merkel, played down the prospect of a double-dip recession

May 2011 - US president Barack Obama and his national security team were picture in a now famous photo watching the mission to kill Osama bin Laden unfold in real time

July 2011 - Rupert Murdoch's wife Wendi Deng blocked him from getting cream-pied during a hearing of a government select committee hearing on phone hacking

August 2011 - rioters clash with police in London, Birmingham and Manchester, as local businesses and buildings are looted and damaged

April 2011 - The Royal wedding

October 2011 - tributes were paid across the web to Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, who died aged 56

October 2011 - Hosts New Zealand beat France in the final of the Rugby World Cup

September 2011 - protesters camped out in Zuccotti Park as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, sparking copycat demonstrations across the globe

November 2011 - the pepper spraying cop at a protest in California

October 2011 - fighting continues in Libya between anti-Gaddafi forces and loyalists as the rebels mount a massive attack on Gaddafi's forces in Sirte

After receiving more than 20,000 photo submissions from over 130 countries, the National Geographic Photo Contest 2011 concluded last month and the judging began.

The winners were announced this week, with the grand prize awarded to Shikhei Goh for his capture of a dragonfly riding out a rainstorm in Indonesia. Goh was awarded $10,000 and a trip to the National Geographic Photography Seminar next year. National Geographic has shared the following winning photos (and honorable mentions) from this year's contest here. All captions and photos are by the individual photographers.

Google needs its engineers to come up with brilliant ideas, and to help them do that apparently a work environment like the Big Brother House will do the trick.

The search giant’s London headquarters in Victoria covers three floors. But last November some of its 350 staff began using a revamped engineering floor - called L4 - that has to be one of the trendiest in the world.

Nelson Mattos, Google’s Vice President of Engineering, said: ‘We hire the brightest and best engineers in the UK and put them together in a highly creative, relaxed and exciting environment.’

When Google set about creating it, they started with a completely blank canvas.

All the walls were knocked through and the furniture taken away.

A Google worker hoping for inspiration

Cushions are all-important at Google

One of the ultra trendy meeting rooms in the London office

The Coffee Lab serves 19 blends

Google's corridors look very futuristic

For bigger team talks bosses can use this state-of-the-art suite

The office is designed to be completely stress free

Google workers are treated to a pool table and games consoles

Unconventional seating is a must at Google

Workers can even write ideas down on white boards in the corridors

One of the many relaxation areas in L4

A picture of a spaceship from Star Wars adorns one of the meeting-room walls

Workers can always tune out with a pair of headphones if they're being distracted

There's no diary room, but L4 does have futuristic meeting pods

May the force be with them: Programmers are encouraged to play with toys

Perhaps Google Googled 'trendy office' for inspiration

The next Google Doodle?

One hull of an office: The resident rowing boat

L4 is paradise for creative thinkers

Hi-tech video conferencing is a cinch at L4

Two workers admire their new super-clean office environment

All white on the night: There aren't many dark corners at Google

Global headquarters: The Googleplex headquarters in San Francisco is also quirky